Reporter John Henderson is covering the Tour de France for The Denver Post…

Arthon, France — I’m decking the next xenophobe who says the French are rude.

They saved my American tail Wednesday. I came to the Tour de France for a week with no hotel reserved for three of those nights. Wednesday was one of those nights. Wednesday was one of those days.

At one point, I had no room, no money, no cell phone, no Internet and no gas. At about 7 p.m., I finally found Team Garmin-Chipotle’s hotel here in a massive countryside chateau that doubled as a Division II soccer team’s training grounds. I had an interview scheduled for 8:30 p.m. and found a good parking spot to sleep in my car. The foil baguette wrappers filling the back seat would have to do for a blanket.

Lo and behold the chateau’s managers heard my dilemma. They started calling all their friends around the Loire Valley. Within three calls, they found a small inn in the tiny hamlet of Neuvy St. Sepulcre 15 miles away.

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Riders of the Agritubel team greet a woman wearing the team’s shirt as she rides her horse alongside the pack near the city of Loudun. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

On my way back after checking in, I was driving on fumes. One problem people don’t realize about France is French gas stations. At night, they’re automated and many only take French gas cards. Bill Gates” VISA card wouldn’t work here.

Sure enough, mine didn’t. Sleeping outdoors in France is romantic but not in a gas station surrounded by oil trucks. However, a kind, middle-aged local stopped his car after pulling from his pump and motioned inquisitively. I pointed at my worthless VISA card and he pulled out his gas card. I brought out a 20-euro note and he gave me enough gas to get me through today.

A friend was made and a cultural chasm was crossed without speaking a single word of each other’s language.

Later that night, I was writing away in the lobby of the chateau when a junior high soccer team, fresh from a game, stormed inside. They saw me typing and two kids said, “SHHHHHH!” As this junior high soccer team walked by me, they began whispering.

The DU hockey team is giddy about incoming freshman Joe Colborne being selected in the first round of last weekend’s NHL draft. Colborne, 18, went 16th overall to the Boston Bruins, making the power forward one of DU’s most exciting prospects in 60 years of the program.

The Pioneers’ only other top-round draft pick was defenseman Craig Redmond, who went No. 6 overall to the Los Angeles Kings in 1984.

The 6-foot-5 Colborne, Canada’s 2008 junior A player of the year, said Sunday his cell phone expired Saturday after receiving so many calls and text messages from supporters, many from Denver. He borrowed a friend’s phone Sunday near his home in Calgary to catch up with The Denver Post.

“Obviously, it’s a pretty big honor, especially being taken by a team like Boston, an Original Six team,” Colborne said. “I’m just pretty exited about the whole thing and hopefully it will pay off in a few years.”

Colborne, the son of Calgary oil and gas millionare Paul Colborne, squashed rumors that he is thinking about turning pro immediately.

“Oh yeah,” he said when asked if he’ll be in a DU sweater this fall. “(The Bruins) were one of the most supportive teams of Denver. They couldn’t be more happy with my decision to go there. They’re expecting me to go there and looking forward to seeing me continue to develop under (George Gwozdecky’s) great coaching staff.”

Boston will retain Colborne’s professional rights through college, but the Bruins could sign him at any time. Colborne declined to estimate how many seasons he might play at DU.

“We’ll make that decision when it comes along,” he said. “We’re obviously not in a rush, so we’ll make that decision when we have to.”

Like any DU player or fan, Big Joe was excited to play with proposed incoming freshman defenseman David Carle, who was expected to be selected in the second round of the draft. Carle, however, has been diagnosed with a dangerous heart condition that has ended his hockey career.

“That’s tough, real tough,” Colborne said of Carle’s retirement. “Coach (Derek) Lalonde was at the draft and he told me right before it started. I called his number and sent him a text. It’s horrible. It looked like he had a great career ahead of him. It kind of makes you sit back and look at the big picture of life.”

The few and the brave longtime Colorado State men’s basketball followers will recall Buzz Williams, the recruiting dynamo of an assistant, who brought a pipeline of Texas talent to Fort Collins.

Not coincidentally, much of that Texas talent moved on, after Williams started climbing the coaching ladder.

First, he helped Billy Gillispie turn Texas A&M from a Big 12 doormat to an NCAA contender. He took a head coaching job at New Orleans, made it an instant Sun Belt competitor. After a year he bolted to Marquette citing post-Katrina facility issues.

Turns out, Williams can recruit more than Texas. Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony standout Tyshawn Taylor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the only way he wouldn’t withdraw his request for a scholarship release is if Williams succeeds new Indiana coach Tom Crean at the Big East school.

Williams’ voice mail box was naturally full Wednesday morning. So a text exchange followed. He said he’ll go to Indiana if he doesn’t get the top job at Marquette and meanwhile “pray 4my wife + kids” facing the prospect of another yet another move.
Just a week ago, his name was linked as an outside shot for the TCU job. While he was still at New Orleans, Williams was very interested in last spring’s CSU vacancy. ….

Former CSU turned Liberty coaches Dale Layer and Ritchie McKay, have a letter-of-intent from Seth Curry a 6-0 guard who is the younger brother of NCAA Tournament sensation Stephen Curry of Davidson.

…..
Looks like CSU isn’t the only college in the area firing coaches. The difference between Pam Tanner’s release at Denver and Jen Warden’s dismissal last week in Fort Collins? Tanner, like Layer a year ago, showed nothing but class with a prepared statement praising the institution and wishing the school well.

Warden, who gets paid for five years for just five regular season conference wins in three seasons (one fewer than Tanner had this past season) made herself unavailable for comment, and when she inadvertently answered a call offered “no comment” to a variety of questions.

Oh yes, the message on Warden’s cell phone is “I can’t wait to talk to you.”